Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.004 May 23, 1994 1) Introduction (Moshe Maszlanka) 2) Introduction (Bernard S. Greenberg) 3) Vos makht men in der Shtot fun Malokhim? (Jay Lee) 4) Kushik (Tami Echavarria) 5) Oyver botl--can you spare a dime? (Shleyme Axelrod) 6) Fornal (Moshe Maszlanka) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun May 22 10:35:42 1994 From: ruah9408@ccsg.tau.ac.il Subject: Introduction Glad to join you. I'm Moshe Maszlanka, Jewish History student, last year B.A. in Tel Aviv University. Beside this I learn Jewish Culture and Language studies. My background in Yidish is first of all from home, and from the "idishe shule" Scholem Aleijem in Montevideo. (Many years ago). I suppose that I'll be with you for a few years. Moshe 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri May 20 17:01:44 1994 From: bsg@world.std.com Subject: Introduction My name is Bernard S. Greenberg, you can call me Bernie. I'm 44,n a free-lance software consultant in the Boston area. I grew up in an unknowledgeable but ethnically paradaisical vanished-land called 50's Brooklyn, and was raised as a Jew, and strongly exposed to a certain brand of Ashkenazic Jewish culture. Today I am an ardent atheist, a secularist, and =deeply= involved in "non-Jewish" art forms (read, "Bach sacred music"). Nonetheless, I retain an avid interest Jewish issues, although often by way of comparison to "non-Jewish" ones. Language being a particular area of my intrigue, -vor-allem- German, Yiddish holds a particular charm for me (I can squeeze out the meaning of a Yiddish newspaper with a bit of sweat). I read the history of Jewry out of the multilingual tapestry of the Yiddish lexicon and grammar. I am deeply affected and moved by the tragedy of the Holocaust and the murder of a civilization; no historical event has more formed my outlook or affected my thinking, although the secularist message I read from it disturbs many. I am awed by the Vanished World, its imagery, its ways, its modalities -- even if they are not the ones I would choose for myself today (and its music -- I collect and cherish classic Cantorial recordings.) So I'll see what we have here....thank you for your welcome. Bernie 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri May 20 09:56:35 1994 From: JMLEE@ucs.indiana.edu Subject: Vos makht men in der Shtot fun Malokhim? In one weeks time I will be travelling to Los Angeles. Please tell me, anyone who might know, where are some good Jewish bookstores? As a student of Yiddish, I want to get some books, maps and records, and I would greatly appreciate any help you might be able to give me. Jay Lee E"Sh: Vadim, zeyt moikhel, az ikh hob Aykh nit geshribn. Gebt mir Ayrem adres (shnek-post: a heym oder bei der arbet) un ikh shik Aych a postkartl. J.L 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri May 20 19:51:15 1994 From: Tami_Echavarria@UCSDLIBRARY.ucsd.edu Subject: "Kushik" Re: Mendele Vol 3.341 and Vol. 3.342 query/response "Kushik" Attn: Meyshe Yankl Sweet and Pavel Miladinovic-Cernoch, et al. We are Lithuanian Yiddish speakers. My mother was born and raised there pre-WWII. I asked her about "kushik" which the litvishe pronounce "koshik." We use the same Czech/Slovak word "koshik" to mean "basket" which can connotatively be applied to any basket-like carrying device such as a shopping bag. A lot of Yiddish speakers in different regions pronounce words differently than the litvishe do so regionally "koshik" could likely be "kushik." Another query (from my mother, the litvake, who isn't on email): Does anyone other than the litvaken use the synonym "kontse" to mean "basket?" For those who can read Yiddish in the vernacular, it is written: kuf-alef-nun-tsadik-aiyin. Thank you for any answers in advance. Tami Echavarria 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat May 21 11:04:22 1994 From: PTYAXEL@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: oyver botl--can you spare a dime? "Oyver botl" seems to be as persistent a topic this year on MENDELE as "Judeo-Sorbian" was last year. Here's another contribution. In the May 13 issue of the _Forverts_, the Mloteks present the words to a Yiddish theater song, set to the tune of the Depression-era "Brother, can you spare a dime?" (lyric by E.Y. [Yip] Harburg). The Yiddish lyric is credited to Herman Yablokov. Unlike Harburg's narrator, the speaker hadn't built a railroad, and hadn't been the kid with the drum slogging through hell in WW I; he's an aging actor whose great popularity has faded away. The song ends: men hot mikh aplodirt, blumen mir gebrakht, kritiker bahandlt azoy fayn, yedn oyf der nakht banketn mir gemakht-- itst derkent mikh keyner mer. a tsveyter shpilt mayn role, trogt mayn kroyn men anerkent nisht mer mayn talant, men zogt az ikh bin oyver v'botl shoyn efsher hot ir finf sent? --Shleyme Axelrod 6)---------------------------------------------------- From @YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu:LISTSERV@YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU Sun May 22 10:46:13 1994 From: masslanka msa Subject: "Fornal" In course of today's class in Yidish Literature, we found in Rikuda Potash's poem: "balade fun main toitn zeide" the word "fornal" that nobody could explain. If some of you could propose an explanation, a whole class in Holy-Land will be gratefull. Thanks a Lot. Moshe Maszlanka ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.004 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu